


What Are A Few Thousand Years in the Face of Eternity

by hatshepslut



Series: Birds of a Feather [4]
Category: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel - Michael Scott
Genre: Additional Warnings Apply, First Kiss, Fluff, Footnotes, Headcanon, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Post-Canon, Sexual Humor, Slow Burn, Spoiler Warning: Book 4 (The Necromancer), Spoiler Warning: Book 5 (The Warlock), Spoiler Warning: Book 6 (The Enchantress)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:21:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27208042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hatshepslut/pseuds/hatshepslut
Summary: "Does anybody know where Aten and Quetzalcoatl are?", Janus demanded, throwing a puzzled glance into the round. Most Elders exchanged confused looks with each other, after all they were just as clueless as their spokesman was. Anubis on the other hand was quick to come to a conclusion."If I had to take a wild guess I would assume they are blowing each other's back out right now", the Jackal God replied indifferently.
Relationships: Aten/Quetzalcoatl (Nicholas Flamel)
Series: Birds of a Feather [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1973989
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	What Are A Few Thousand Years in the Face of Eternity

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfiction is part of an ungoing project which will be updated every now and then. The short stories are only loosely connected to each other, so you do not have to read them in any particular order.
> 
> A special thanks goes out to the members of the SINF Discord.
> 
> Ps. Here you have your smooches, nekkuu.

** June 15th, 2007 AD, Xibalba **

Tension was running high at the so called Crossroad. 

It has barely been a week since their schemes to release the monsters of Alcatraz upon the city of San Francisco had been thwarted. However, the Dark Elders have always been quick to pass the blame and accuse each other of being responsible for their own failure. 

This time was no different.

"Everything would have gone just according to plan if  _someone_ had not turnt tail and fled as soon as She Who Watches emerged on the battlefield", Bastet claimed reproachfully and threw a telling glance over to Quetzalcoatl. Immediately a low murmur went through the crowd of the gathered Elders, not few exchanging insecure looks with each other.

In reply the Feathered Serpent looked daggers at her from the other side of the round table of stone, which had only been put up in the middle of the small Shadowrealm for the special occasion of their Great Conclave. He could not help but huff loudly in discontent at this accusation.

"Oh, so it is  _my_ fault now?", Quetzalcoatl snarled, crossing his arms deviantly in front of his chest as his plumed tail started coiling irritatedly beneath the table, "Do I have to remind you who retreated first?"

However, the Cat Goddess did not even listen. In fact, she stopped paying any attention to what the other Elder had to say to this matter as soon as he opened his mouth. She merely put him off with a dismissive wave of her paw. 

"But what else can you expect from a snake", Bastet sneered, continuing like the Feathered Serpent had not just spoken in his defense, and let a raspy purr escape her mouth. It almost sounded like she was laughing at a joke which nobody else in the room seemed to have understood.

"You really should not talk like this to my-", Aten attempted to intervene in a calm voice, but he was instantly interrupted by his mother.

"Your what? Your  _dog_ ?", Bastet taunted, pulling what little was left of her lips into a haughty grin, "Call him back then, Amenhotep¹. He is all bark and no bite, but the noise bothers me anyway."

Promptly the claws of the Feathered Serpent dug into the table top, making a loud screeching noise as he drew them over the stone surface. His muscles were visibly strung to breaking point. The only thing still keeping him on his seat at that very moment was Aten putting one of his many hands² on the other Elder's shoulder, slightly shaking his head at him to signalize Quetzalcoatl that she was not worth the trouble. 

"How unfortunate that he does not seem to be able to take any proper criticism serious", Bastet scoffed in reply to his silence and lifted her chin up in the air with a triumphant smirk as another round of murmurs went through the Conclave. The expectant glances of the present Elders were immediately bent on the Feathered Serpent, visibly waiting for him to counter with a snide remark of his own.

For a moment Quetzalcoatl did not speak at all, his jaw merely set as he audibly started gritting his teeth. He was aware that she was only provoking him, that she tried getting under his skin. The Feathered Serpent also knew that it would be for the best if he simply took the high road and stayed silent, but her taunts had worked. 

He was fed up with her.

"Perhaps I would if you were not a _joke_ yourself", Quetzalcoatl eventually replied, hissing each word through tightly clenched fangs. The Cat Goddess' face immediately fell, twisting into a horrible grimace. Threateningly she bent over the table towards the other Elder.

"How dare you, you little-", she growled, but the sharp sound of a gavel hitting the stone surface of the table top promptly cut her off. 

"Silence!", Janus³, the spokesman of the Conclave, snapped back at all of them, each of his four faces looking more disappointed than the other. Instantly the whole assembly went silent, almost embarrassingly so. 

"I doubt that we will be able to come up with  _anything_ reasonable today if you keep throwing yourself at each other's throat", he sighed exhaustedly, pinching the nose of his front face in an unnerved fashion.

Janus darted a telling glance at Bastet and expectantly raised his brows. For a while the Cat Goddess held the other Elder's gaze. He probably would have dropped dead right at the spot if looks could kill. Eventually she took her seat again, but not before letting out a sharp hiss.

"We will postpone this meeting for half an hour. Hopefully you all will have calmed down by then", Janus finally decided, pounding his gavel against the table once again with a loud bang. 

Promptly the Elders scrambled from their seats, most of them exhaling a relieved breath they were not aware that they were holding in the first place. Bastet and Quetzalcoatl exchanged a long, disgruntled look with each other before she walked past by him with a low snarl, intentionally ramming him with her shoulder as she did.

"You really cannot stand each other, do you?", Aten remarked, a faint of a smile playing around the corners of his mouth as he looked at the other Elder.

"With all due respect, that is an understatement", the Feathered Serpent replied morosely, grimacing visibly as he rubbed over the sore spot on his own shoulder, "The only good thing she ever did was giving birth to  _you_ ."

Absentmindedly the Sun Disk started to nod, seemingly losing track of the conversation, and nervously fidgeted with something inside the pocket of his suit. In contrast to most other Elders, Aten has always preferred to go with the Humanis' latest fashion; nothing the Feathered Serpent could relate to, really.

"Is everything alright? You look a bit pale around the nose", Quetzalcoatl wondered, his voice heavy with concern as his tail started erratically tapping on the ground. He could not help but furrow his brows at the Sun Disk's uncharacteristically restless behavior. 

Aten tried to force a reassuring smile, but did not quite manage to, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck instead. The Feathered Serpent did not remember a time he has ever seen the other Elder look so nervous, probably because the Sun Disk usually was a perfect embodiment of composure. 

"May I talk to you for a moment?", Aten eventually asked. Quetzalcoatl could have sworn that for a second his voice had even made a small crack.

Without saying another word, the Feathered Serpent extended a hand towards the other Elder. The Sun Disk did not need more of a reply to understand, a faint of a smile flashing over his features. Aten seized Quetzalcoatl by his lower arm and led him off to a place where they could speak in private, throwing a brief glance over his shoulder to make sure that really nobody was following them. They ended up in one of the nine caves that connected Xibalba with the nine nearby Shadowrealms, far enough inside to be shielded from the prying looks of the other Elders but not too far off to actually pass through the leygate.

Expectantly Quetzalcoatl raised one brow at the Sun Disk.

"Well, I thought that since your collection currently looks rather barren", Aten uttered reluctantly and digged into the pocket of his suit, rummaging around inside for a moment, "you might like to replenish it." Finally he pulled out a small casket made from ebony.

Immediately a soft chuckle escaped the other Elder's lips. In fact, this noise could not really be compared to what would usually pass as genuine laughter, actually sounding more like something between glass shattering and a raspy cough. However, after having heard it so many times throughout the millennia it almost was soothing in Aten's ears. His shoulders promptly seemed to relax a bit again. 

"Do you try to bribe me?", the Feathered Serpent wondered and smirked smugly at the Sun Disk.

"Am I really so easy to read?", Aten asked in mild amusement, pressing one palm flat against his chest in a dramatic fashion. The Feathered Serpent could not help but snort in response.

"Like an open book", Quetzalcoatl replied complacently, snatching the box out of Aten's grasp. However, he immediately stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he opened the casket. He needed a moment to comprehend what was actually inside. "That... is a ring", he hesitantly noted.

"Very observant from you", Aten remarked mischievously and walked around the other Elder, gently placing one pair of his many hands on the Feathered Serpent's shoulders from behind, "Don't you want to put it on?"

Quetzalcoatl raised one brow in confusion, slightly throwing his head back to see the other Elder's reaction. The Sun Disk nodded in reinforcement, making the Feathered Serpent roll his eyes at him in good humor. Reluctantly Quetzalcoatl fiddled the ring out from the casket, returning the box to Aten to have some more free space at hand, and slipped it on his finger. Stretching out his arm and turning the back of his hand towards himself, the Feathered Serpent could get a closer look at the piece of jewelry for the first time.

The band was made of a silver metal whose surface was ornamented with a light watery pattern. In the middle the ring was mounted by a milky white orb, of which he knew for a fact that its kind had not been quarried since the last mine had run dry a couple of millennia ago. Slightly moving the ring against the dim light coming from the entrance of the cave, the gem stone seemed to change its color, turning almost translucent. 

The Feathered Serpent was quite certain that the skill for such kind of craftsmanship had been lost with the fall of Danu Talis. 

"I have not seen anything like this in quite a while", Quetzalcoatl uttered in a low voice, literally having to tear his eyes away from the ring to look back at the other Elder again, "Where do you got it from?"

"A family heirloom", Aten simply replied, slightly shrugged with his shoulders, "My grandfather had the ring crafted for my grandmother. They passed it down to my father and he to me."

"Then I cannot possibly accept this gift", the Feathered Serpent stated uncomfortably and already started fidgeting with the ring to pull it off his finger when the Sun Disk quickly slipped in front of him again. Gently Aten clasped the other Elder's hand in his own.

"Keep it", Aten asserted unwaveringly. Almost absentmindedly his thumb brushed over the surface of the ring. When he looked up at the Feathered Serpent again, something seemed to have changed in his eyes. It was not the first time though. In fact, Quetzalcoatl has already noticed him stealing glances like this at him a few times throughout the years, but only now he really started to realize how  _different_ it actually was.

"It probably should have been yours all along", Aten uttered softly, his voice barely more than a whisper. 

Now it was the Feathered Serpent's turn to laugh nervously. "I am not certain whether I can follow you", he stated reluctantly, his throat suddenly feeling tight with emotions he could not quite distinguish. 

Quetzalcoatl was aware how this whole setting looked like and if two different people had been standing here, he most definitely would have known how this all ended, but this was not the case. The mere idea of it was ridiculous, after all Aten would never... The Feathered Serpent did not dare to progress any further with this thought, even though he perhaps would have liked to.

For a moment the Sun Disk was visibly uncertain how to reply to the other Elder's statement. "How many years have we been turning in circles?", he finally wondered and smiled almost sadly at Quetzalcoatl, "Four thousand, ten thousand maybe? I just-". 

Abruptly Aten interrupted himself in mid-sentence, slightly grimacing at this fact. "It is funny, really", the Sun Disk eventually continued, trying to force a small laugh, but ultimately sounding more like he was choking on his own words, "I always liked to believe to be oh so eloquent, but around you I either struggle to find the proper words or simply do not dare to ask the right questions."

Quetzalcoatl did not quite realize that he has been holding his breath ever since Aten had started speaking again, literally grasping at every word he said. Gently he put his spare palm on top of the older Elder's hand, now clasping it in both of his own. 

"Then maybe  _show_ me instead", he whispered almost hopefully. For a moment he barely recognized his own voice.

Aten blinked at him in utter confusion. Immediately a pang of anxiety darted through the Feathered Serpent's chest. Perhaps he misread the whole situation after all. But then the Sun Disk cautiously extended a hand towards him, gently brushing a stray feather of his hair behind his ear, which probably was standing on end everywhere on his head. The palm moved down to his cheek, cupping the side of his face as his thumb tenderly trailed over the other Elder's skin. Quetzalcoatl could not help but sigh softly as he slightly leant into the touch, closing his eyes for a brief second.

When he opened them again, Aten's face seemed to be way closer than it used to be, his nose slightly brushing against his own. For a moment they just stared each other in silence, an awkward tension building up between them. Abruptly the Sun Disk bend down to him and finally closed the distance between them, pushing his mouth against the other Elder's. 

At first it simply felt forced, every muscle in the Feathered Serpent's body seemingly tensing up from the mere sensation. But soon he noticed himself melting into the touch, unconsciously rising to his tiptoes as he put one hand against the crook of the other Elder's neck to pull him closer, yet it never was really close enough.

"Why _now_?", Quetzalcoatl quietly muttered against Aten's lips, looking at him through half-open lashes.

The Sun Disk smiled almost sadly at the Feathered Serpent. "You have seen the whole mess around us. The last time so many Elders died was during the fall of Danu Talis", Aten admitted, breathing softly against the other Elder's skin, "I think I was simply afraid that if I do not tell you now it might be too late afterwards."

Quetzalcoatl could not help but snort softly in amusement. "Tell me  _what_ ?", he asked innocently, making the Sun Disk roll his eyes at him. Gently Aten nuzzled against the side of his face, whispering something in his ear which was only meant for him to hear. The Feathered Serpent's lips immediately curved upwards into a delicate smile. Faintly tilting his head to the side, he returned the favor. 

He sighed deeply as he buried his face in the crook of Aten's neck, simply taking in his scent for a moment. "So much wasted time...", Quetzalcoatl uttered absentmindedly and carefully rested his chin on top of the other Elder's head.

"What are a few thousand years in the face of eternity?", Aten argued and placed a brief kiss against the Feathered Serpent's jawline. Immediately Quetzalcoatl gave his face a gentle shove.

"You are insufferable", Quetzalcoatl replied, mischievously smirk at him. Seizing the other Elder by his collar, he pulled the Sun Disk close again, pressing his lips against his more hungrily than before. Stumbling backwards, he could feel his back bumping against a wall, making him chuckle softly into the kiss. The other Elder's weight felt all too comfortable against his chest.

They panted heavily when they withdrew from each other again, their cheeks flushed deeply. Looking down on himself, Aten noticed that the other Elder's tail had firmly wrapped around his legs, fixing him just where he stood. Snorting in amusement, he pressed his forehead against the Feathered Serpent's. 

"Did the ring come attached to a question or..?", Quetzalcoatl eventually wondered, putting on palm against the Sun Disk's chest.

"Depends entirely on you", Aten replied smoothly. His fingers tenderly traced over the scales of the Feathered Serpent's tail, before he clasped the other Elder's hand in his, placing a gentle kiss on his beringed knuckles. Giving him a meaningful smile, Quetzalcoatl wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling Aten into another kiss.

* * *

Gradually the Dark Elders came flocking back to the stone table to continue their previous meeting. However, it did not take long for them to notice that some of them were actually still missing.

"Does anybody know where Aten and Quetzalcoatl are?", Janus demanded, throwing a puzzled glance into the round. Most Elders exchanged confused looks with each other, after all they were just as clueless as their spokesman was. Anubis on the other hand was quick to come to a conclusion.

"If I had to take a wild guess I would assume they are blowing each other's back out right now", the Jackal God replied indifferently.

"Oh, shut up, Anubis, will you?", Bastet snapped back at him, visibly uncomfortable at the mere thought of this suggestion. To her shock an approving murmur went through the crowd, everybody else seemingly nodding to themselves. Even Janus' face slightly twisted into a knowing scowl. Bastet frowned grimly at the rest of the Dark Elders, exhaling sharply.

"I hate all of you."

**Author's Note:**

> ¹ Amenhotep IV. was the birth name of the historical pharaoh Akhenaten (ca. 1373 - ca. 1336 BC), who is the same person as Aten in the SINF canon. Since Aten's father is also canonically called Amenhotep, this probably applies to his son as well.
> 
> ² The Aten, the Kemetic sun disk, is commonly depicted as having several arms, mimicking the rays of the sun. This makes it likely that Aten received a similar appearance in the SINF canon after the Change.
> 
> ³ Since Janus only briefly appears in the SINF canon and at that during a time in which the pro-Humani and anti-Humani factions of the Elders have not really been formed yet, it is never stated on which side he ends up. Thus, I simply felt free to turn him into a Dark Elder.


End file.
